Image: Nike

Nike+ FuelBand SE Rose Gold is a sophisticated addition to the personal activity tracker market.  Designed for people who are both style- and fitness-conscious, the clasp, bezel, and screws are made from 316 series stainless steel, hand polished and finished in durable PVD coating.

These Miss Understood tables by Tcherassi Vilató are inspired by the rockabilly tables from the fifties. Made from carved MDF with Iroko timber legs, the tables are sprayed in a variety of colours and given a glossy finish and protective coating.

Image: Roll & Hill

These 1970s-inspired Roll & Hill Woody Lights are crafted from aluminum, acrylic and wood and mount to the ceiling using aluminum stems that are finished in black matte.  They can be combined to create a single lighting fixture (even around corners with the addition of angled pieces) or used individually. 

This new collaboration between Rebecca Minkoff and Frends combines premium acoustics and elegant design to deliver a statement accessory.  Called the Frends With Benefits headphones, the removable headphone caps in Minkoff's signature style and materials are made to be used with Frends' Taylor headphones' black leather and gold finish to creating two headphone looks in a single box.  The headphones are available at the Apple online store and in Nordstrom stores nationwide.

Image: Unknown

Bermudian designer Meagan Wellman's final-year fashion degree collection was shown at Earl's Court, London in June of this year.  While appearing to be modern and minimalistic on the surface, Wellman's designs were actually largely inspired by the history of her native island, in particular 19th century convicts and Boer prisoners of war who were transported to Bermuda and kept on islands in the Great Sound between 1899 and 1902.

Many of the crafts and artefacts made by the Boer prisoners of war are currently on display at the National Museum of Bermuda and these provided a wealth of inspiration for Wellman.  Her designs featured Edwardian-style clothing, specifically clothes worn by imprisoned suffragettes and echoed the shape of convict hulks.  Classic prison stripes were paired with the broad arrow which the navy (also hugely influential in Bermudian life at that time) uses to mark its property, while the colour orange was borrowed from modern-day prison uniforms.   Wellman's inspiration could also be seen in the accessories which included oversized necklaces, belts and bags which were in fact enlarged copies of carvings made in Bermuda by the prisoners of war.

You can experience a virtual piece of musical history with this app created as a collaboration between Design I/O and strategic design agency eyeball nyc.  John Lennon: The Bermuda Tapes is an interactive album app that tells the story of Lennon’s life-changing journey by sailboat Megan Jaye from Newport, Rhode Island to Bermuda in June 1980, and the creative re-awakening he experienced during his time on the island which lead to the release of his album Double Fantasy: A Heart Play.  The trip, which Lennon had been encouraged to take by his wife Yoko Ono and which occurred six months before his death, is uniquely chronicled in this electronic format.

One of the project’s directors - Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Michael Epstein - wanted to recreate the experience of becoming immersed in a record album, something he felt no longer exists in a world made up of electronic music files. The Tapes are essentially a conversation between Lennon and Ono through songwriting, and Design I/O were given unpreceedented access to the demo tapes Lennon recorded in Bermuda as well as interviews with Lennon, Ono and Megan Jaye's crew.

The story is divided into six chapters which cover everything from the sailing voyage, to his arrival in Bermuda, to the visit to the disco which his creative re-birth is attributed.  Told with the use of illustration and interactive techniques including 3D and dynamic/generative content, it features music, photos and interviews that detail a relatively unexamined slice of the former Beatle’s life.  The team wanted the design and experience of the app to match the tone and feeling of each section of the story, therefore different techniques were used for each chapter in order to provide the most poetic interaction.   

The app, which is currently only available on Apple devices, is solely owned by WhyHunger with all net proceeds going to benefit that organisation's work to realise a world free of hunger and poverty.

Images: Ingo Maurer

This table and chair set by Ingo Maurer (produced by Established & Sons) removes the tedium of trying to decide who gets to sit by the leg by removing vertical supports altogether.  Instead, the weight of the table is translated through a single arm attached to each chair around each table.

There is exciting news on the local home design front with the launch earlier this month of a new retail space.  Urban Cottage, an occasional shop featuring a mix of new and vintage home decor, gifts, reclaimed goods, one-of-a-kind objects and architectural salvage, is the brainchild of Nicole Golden Hendrickson who, while lacking a formal training in interior design, more than makes up for this omission with an innate understanding of colour, texture and form and a keen eye for design.  Hendrickson formerly spent time living in the US and her design philosophy revolves around the repurposing and reuse of items.  She has the prescience to see the potential in items which otherwise would have been discarded.  Take for example the road signs which were acquired as they were being replaced and are now regarded as collectors' items or the fact that the previous occupier of the premises left behind piles of lumber which Hendrickson (who carried out much of the overhaul of the space herself) repurposed as cladding, adding warmth to the loft-like interior of the warehouse space.

Strikingly beautiful lighting, both modern and traditional, is carried in store.  Large items of furniture including tables, chairs and sofas are also available for purchase in addition to smaller finishing touches such as cushions, cowhide rugs and vases.  We were particularly fond of the mid-century modern chairs as pieces from this period are rarely available for purchase on island but all of the items offered at Urban Cottage are designed to create a focal point or add a quirky touch to a room's decor.

Visit the store's website for more information and hours of operation.

This variation on the shell chair is by Patrick Frey.  Called the Kirk Chair, it is manufactured by Vial and made from aluminium suitable for indoor as well as outdoor use.  The aluminium of the chair consists of a special alloy which is bent into the shape of the seat and the edges are then folded under to increase stability. The chair is constructed in such a way that the actual design process remains visible.  The cutouts give it a unique spatial quality.